Speaker: Dr. Stephen Knisley, Professor of Bioengineering and Chairman of the Department of Chemical, Biological and Bioengineering, N.C. A&T

Abstract: Implanted metallic cardiac devices such as stents, pacing electrodes and abandoned leads exist in some patients. Since these are not attached to a defibrillating device, they have not been expected to impact on defibrillation. However, this investigator found that the probability of successful defibrillation increases by a statistically significant amount when certain nonattached metallic conductors are present in the cardiac electric field.

This effect, which is potentially advantageous, is thought to be due to stimulatory current at the interface between the conductor and the tissue. In further research, the current was imaged using changes in transmittance of semi-transparent indium-tin-oxide (ITO) conductors. X-ray diffraction confirmed that the image contrast mechanism was current-driven reduction of indium. The images indicated that current was highly concentrated near edges.

This was also predicted with a computer model having a nonlinear interfacial current-voltage relationship such as occurs for metal-saline interfaces. Cardiac optical mapping, which examines the spatiotemporal heart excitation process, further revealed that the edge of a nonattached conductor in an electric field produces excitation in rabbit heart. It was concluded that current occurs primarily at the edges of the conductor during a defibrillation shock, and this current is capable of exciting the heart. This can explain the effect of nonattached conductors on defibrillation.

The results imply that cardiac responses to defibrillation shocks are expected to be altered, and possibly improved, in patients who have nonattached metallic devices in their heart.

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The N.C. A&T Office of Research Compliance and Ethics has released a new edition of “Biological and Biohazardous Materials Safety Guide For Researchers,” the university’s comprehensive guide to biosafety.

The guide is available on the university website. It covers roles and responsibilities; biosafety requirements; biosafety levels; accidents, exposures,and spill response; and biohazardous waste pick-up.

Dr Diedrich Schmidt and two-co-authors have been named winners of an annual competition for the best scientific paper including results and images acquired with a WITec microscope system. From WITec:

“This year the award goes to Diedrich A. Schmidt, North Carolina A&T State University, USA, Taisuke Ohta and Thomas E. Beechem both from the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA for their paper: ‘Strain and charge carrier coupling in epitaxial graphene,’ Phys. Rev. B 84, 235422 (2011). The paper was submitted by Prof. Diedrich Schmidt who will additionally receive a 500 Euro Amazon Gift card. Diedrich A. Schmidt most recently took a position as an Assistant Professor of Nanophysics at the North Carolina A&T State University and was formerly a member of the Physical Chemistry Department at Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany (Prof. Havenith-Newen) where he did parts of the work presented in the paper.”

“Tyson graduated from Bronx High School of Science in 1976 and went to Harvard. He wrestled, tutored prisoners in math, and studied astrophysics. In his sophomore year, he was talking with a fellow black student, a senior who was about to start a Rhode scholarship. The senior was appalled to hear Tyson talk about astrophysics. “Blacks in America do not have the luxury of your intellectual talents being wasted on astrophysics,” he declared.

“It was as if Tyson had been stung by a hornet. The stinger buried itself so deep inside him that it took nine years to work its way out. By then, Tyson was finishing his Ph.D. in astrophysics at Columbia. During graduate school, he became the department’s go-to person when reporters called to ask about something weird in the sky. He began answering questions readers sent to StarDate magazine. One day, a satellite recorded explosions on the surface of the sun, and a local television station asked Tyson if he would talk about it on camera. After the filming, he went home and watched himself on television. It was the first time he could recall ever seeing a black scientist speaking as an expert on American television. His college shame fell away.”

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N.C. A&T student Lillian Barfield and two partners from UNC Wilmington are among the finalists for the Emerging Issues Prize for Innovation. The object of the competition is to come up with an idea to increase North Carolina’s high school graduation rate. There are separate categories for college students and high school students.

“The students created the Wilmington Community Digital Storytelling Collaboration, which gives iPads and digital cameras to middle schoolers who are at risk of dropping out to get them to tell a story. The middle schoolers are also paired with community members and UNCW students.“